Command and Conquer: Generals 2 – Let the Nostalgia Return

So BioWare and EA’s big secret project is a sequel to Command and Conquer: Generals. I honestly can’t say I saw this one coming. EA first released Generals back in 2003 and then the expansion Zero Hour later the same year. These games follow three factions battling of world supremacy. The two superpowers in this alternate world are the United States and China. The Global Liberation Army (GLA) takes on more of a terrorist roll to attack and break up these super powers.

To be perfectly honest, I played a fair amount of Generals back in the day though LAN. I remember the days, before it was patched, when I could take a single GLA Technical and single handedly destroy an opponent in a 1v1 match. Yea, I played GLA, don’t judge me. Good ole rocket buggies…

I also recall the very first episode of Pure Pwnage (2004), when the main character Jeremy makes fun of his mom though Generals terms, “Mom’s like a noob man, don’t worry about mom. Mom’s like using like a three dozer build.” As a Generals player, that line cracked me up the first time I heard it; a three bulldozer strategy is a huge waste of early resources and time. Throughout the series Jeremy makes countless references to Generals: Zero Hour for it is the game he owns at and “it’s like the best game out there (episode 3).”

I’m getting away from the point though, Command and Conquer: Generals 2. Right. So BioWare is on board now, huh? Interesting. As a fan of BioWare titles, I have faith in their abilities. However, never would have I put BioWare and RTS in the same sentence. Real time strategy games don’t seem to fit the enriched story elements that RPGs have. Can it happen? I would love the answer to be yes.

When I watched the Generals 2 trailer during the Video Game Awards Saturday, the first thought I had of was of the Laser America General (Towers) talking and then I have a radial menu of differing options to respond to him with. Was I going for paragon or renegade? Can I get his hat? Can I go light side GLA? My mind works in odd ways. I recreated this image from my memory below, enjoy that.

Let’s talk about this trailer for a moment. It starts with what looks like GLA infantry and technicals under fire by USA tanks. One of the two tanks is brought down and the other retreats under air support. The trailer is short and sweet and lets us know we can expect this game 2013. The trailer is below.

With Star Wars: The Old Republic coming out THIS week for preorders, the 20th otherwise, and Mass Effect 3 coming out March 2012, there is a lot to look forward to coming out from EA / BioWare’s corner. Sadly, this teaser from Command and Conquer: Generals 2 informs us that we this new RTS won’t be out until 2013. That is quite some time away from now. Like I said, I trust BioWare’s abilities and the fact that they have over a year to figure out how to create a RTS gives me hope that they will do it correctly. A story rich RTS with important, game changing, out of combat decision making, could be very very interesting indeed.